I hate people who are “fascinated” by serial killers. They are just emotionally stunted morons who get off to violating the social contract. There is nothing special about them.

I’m still waiting for a good corollary to movies like American Psycho, that instead of playing up any awesome feeling of these tilted psychos, exposes how pathetic and illogical they are.

No Country for Old Men came close when the woman rejected the coin toss.

Except that was the whole point of American Psycho. People miss the subtext (not that it’s subtle) and think it’s about glorifying Patrick Bateman, but the whole point is that he’s pathetic and overestimates his own importance on every possible level.

I agree that people that see the obviously evil protagonist as antiheros need to be given a reality check, butAmerican Psycho is a weird film to use as an example of “glorifying psychos.” Joker would have been a better example, IMHO.

I actually agree with you, and yet I still see so much merchandising and celebration around Patrick Bateman. I think visually, they didn’t quite land that impact they wanted on audience impressions.

Kind of like how Pyramid Head has somehow outlived his role as James Sunderland’s fractured psyche for the sake of stardom.